A Different Road
by butterflygirl21
Summary: Sakura is kidnapped and awakes to find Shino and Gaara in the same predicament. A new scenario ensues and they work together to become a team, but not for Konoha. Itachi is involved. Probable pairings are GaaraSakuShino. Read and Review.
1. Rude Awakening

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did, but alas, I don't.

* * *

It was a nice day, with the sun shining overhead, but not too bright as to blind the two teens. The light breeze tousled the Uchiha brothers' hair as they held a unusual, thought-provoking conversation. 

Sasuke sat down on the grass. "So why'd you choose them?" he asked.

Itachi smirked, "Do you really want to know? Are you worried about losing your precious Sakura? Afraid that she won't be able to handle the pressure?"

"No. I'm more worried that you won't be able to handle her." The brothers chuckled at the thought. Sasuke's expression suddenly became more pensive. "Seriously, though. Why her? I mean, Ten Ten, Temari, even Hinata would be a better choice! I know she was my teammate and all, but she's so weak."

Itachi thought about his brother's words for a second. However, only a second. "Due to your," Itachi paused, "_extended_ journey in hunting me down, you have obviously failed to receive the weekly Konoha newsletter. Ten Ten is dead. Something about a suicide mission. Temari is married to Shikamaru and has a kid. Poor child. He's going to have a rough upbringing. Anyways, the kid would be a weakness. Finally, Hinata is mentally weak herself. She's a physically strong ninja, but her self-esteem is at zero. Even if she were to _somehow_ overcome it, she could have a mental crisis and all that work would be in vain. I can't afford the time nor the possibility of that on my team."

"And Gaara isn't emotionally unstable? Ha! Never thought I'd hear that one." Sasuke stated sarcastically, while leaning back on his elbows in the grass. This brother bonding thing was weird. He never in his wildest dreams of the past seven years thought he would be having a civil conversation with his brother. It was somewhat disturbing. "One more question." Itachi nodded for him to continue. "Why do you need a team in the first place?"

"Basically, I need a team that is young enough to train mentally, yet old enough to be able to cope." He answered succinctly.

"Not that you answered the question, but cope with what?" Sasuke asked.

"That, my dear brother, is none of your business." Itachi answered smugly, then leapt to his feet.

"Fine." Sasuke sulked.

* * *

Sakura groaned. She looked up at the gray ceiling. _Where the heck am I?_ Her vision was slightly blurry as she slowly used her arms to ease herself in a sitting position and shove her way back to lean against the wall. The stone floor felt sent shivers up her arms. Sakura raised her head, ready to start recording the details of the room into her brain, as was taught in the ninja academy. Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked around, only to experience a wave of nausea and a pounding in her temples. _Whoa! Room is spinning again._ She squeezed her eyes tightly, waited a minute, and then opened them once again. 

"Ahh!" Sakura screamed. Dark, ringed eyes bored into hers six inches away. It was Gaara of the sand crouching before her, peering at her as if she was a lab rat. She banged her head against the wall reflexively. "Ow!"

"What are you doing here?" She asked groggily, while rubbing her hand to soothe the bruise forming on the back of her head.

"Shino! She's awake." Gaara called out to their roommate. He got up to sit against the bare wall adjacently between them.

_Come to think of it. The whole room is bare_. Sakura thought, blearily.

The bug boy was sitting on the far wall, obviously dazed at having been recently awakened.

"Geez, Gaara. You didn't have to scare the girl. It would make my job easier if you wouldn't frighten her to death." Shino rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, you were the one who lost the bet. You get to do the explaining." Gaara answered curtly.

"You're the one who gave me the short straw!" accused an irritable Shino.

"That and you lost Paper Rock Scissors." Gaara smirked.

"Shut up." Shino was getting annoyed. He never did "wake-up" quickly.

"You better get your voice warmed up. You gotta lot of talking to do in the next hour." Gaara smiled gleefully, glad that he hadn't lost the bet. Well, smile as much as one that never sleeps and constantly is having to deal with a material inner demon.

"Will somebody please just tell me what's going on?" Sakura finally spoke up. "I can't even remember how I got here."

"You better sit down-"

"I am." Sakura was in no mood to play games.

"Oh. Heh. Right. Anyways." Shino looked awkwardly at the floor, rubbing his neck, then glanced up at Gaara. "This really is going to take awhile."

* * *

A/N: Ok, I know that this chapter is really short and I promise that there will never be another chapter this miniscule. Plus, I should have future chapters scrutinized, picked apart, and edited by a friend of mine, so please don't give up on me already. Oh, and don't forget to review! I especially appreciate constructive criticism. 


	2. Black Out

Disclaimer: Don't own it. All credit goes to Masashi.

* * *

_2 days prior. _

Itachi stared at the pair from across the room. Naruto was doing some animal impression and Sakura was falling out of her chair in laughter. The two ended up on the floor once again, faces swollen from laughing so hard. Itachi couldn't help but grin himself at their juvenile humor. He could remember a time when he would joke with his friends like that. After practice some days, they would be so worn out from training that his whole team found everything funny. His mind flickered from his team to walking home from training. Of course that recollection led to his house and his house led to the memory of his-.

No. He wouldn't go there. Not tonight. He had a mission to complete and he couldn't afford to stray from the main task.

* * *

Sakura was crying from laughing so hard. Not to mention, she knew she was going to have a bruise on her elbow from falling out of her chair. Maybe now would be a good time to stop the drinks. Heh. Drinks. Yeah right! It would be funny if a fifteen year old could get drunk off of water. Only six more years and she could drink legally. 'Hell yeah!' Inner Sakura punched the air. 

If there was one thing to know about Naruto, it was that he loved Ramen. Sakura occasionally fret that Naruto would someday be tricked over a stupid bowl of noodles. She chuckled at the thought.

Currently, they were at their favorite hangout spot, Ichiraku. Naruto was a great a friend and a lot of fun to be around. She wished she had appreciated him more over the years, or even a _year_ ago.

"Ahahaha! You have a great sense of humor, Naruto." Sakura was picking herself off the floor _again_. The manager was getting worried that they had somehow spiked their food or their drinks.

"Heh. Thanks Sakura-chan." The two were starting to sober up. Naruto paused, then asked a question on a very sensitive subject for Sakura. "What's going to happen to Sasuke, I mean, if the Leaf catches him?"

Sakura grew quiet. "I really don't know. If they ever caught him, which is doubtful, they might put him in jail, or even execute him." She took a sip of her water.

"Surely Tsuande-san wouldn't do _that_!" Naruto cried in outrage.

"Probably not, but he wouldn't get off easy. He left the Leaf of his own free will, then murdered several ANBU members and several Akatsuki. Granted, the Atkatsuki are dangerous people, but it was still an unsanctioned murder, never-the-less. Plus, that's not even counting the ANBU which are citizens of the Leaf."

Naruto's eyes became downcast. "I suppose you're right. I just hope that he chooses to come back one day."

"The consequences would be less severe if her were to come back of his own accord." Sakura was in one of her pensive moods again.

Naruto looked up at Sakura and squinted his blue eyes to peer into her green ones. "Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a human encyclopedia?" Naruto asked her with feigned sincerity.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, eyes crinkling. She attempted to feign offense and punched him in the arm.

* * *

They both paid for their meal and walked out of the restaurant. Naruto was still rubbing the sore spot on his arm. "Do you want me to walk you home? It's kind of late." 

"Thank you Onii-chan," she drawled out the last syllable sarcastically, "but I've been a chuunin for over a year now. I think I can take care of myself."

"Alright. Take care... Pinky." He raised his hand in farewell, while bracing himself for her reaction.

Inner Sakura was unleashed. "Pinky! Why you arrogant jerk! I told you that if you called me that one more time, you were going to die a horrible death involving gerbils! I think I hear them coming." She grinned maniacally and rubbed her hands together. Naruto started laughing uncontrollably then quickly ceased after seeing the violent gleam in her eyes. "Gaaaah!" She started running at him ready to fight. He tried to sidestep and avoid the attack, but she anticipated his move. She wrapped one arm around his neck and repeatedly punched him in the head.

Naruto's eyes were swirling around in a euphoric bliss. "I think I'm seeing ramen flying around my head." Sakura gave an exasperated sigh and let him go. Naruto slumped to the ground. He was lying flat on his back on a public sidewalk of Konoha.

"Breathe, Naruto. Breathe. I think the lack of oxygen is affecting your brain." She crouched down next to the horizontal form of Naruto.

"No! NOOO! Come back my beautiful ramen! Come back!" Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes and his arms were beckoning the delusions to come towards himself.

"You're pathetic." Sakura stood up. "I gotta get home now. It's getting late. My parents will freak if I don't get back soon." She held out her hand to pull him up.

"Ok Sakura-chan! I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto waved and started walking home in the opposite direction. Sakura paused for a moment and looked at the sky. If she had to guess, she would estimate that it was around nine or ten o'clock at night by the color of the sky. She started to shiver and continued on her way. She hadn't been home to take a shower after training and cool air was starting to get to her.

The kunoichi hadn't been walking for more than five minutes when she began to feel the presence of a subdued chakra. Why would anyone want to restrain their chakra in a large city like Konoha? Unless… they were trying not to be seen. The thought came to her slowly. She kept trudging down the street, trying to stay in the most public places as possible and avoid the shady presence. Unfortunately at around ten p.m., not very many people were out at that hour. She decided to pick up the pace a little.

* * *

Seven minutes later and Sakura was getting annoyed. "Damn! It's still following me!" She mumbled to herself. She felt like sprinting, but if the man knew enough of how to subdue his chakra, then he was no one to be trifled with. She pretended to drop her pen, so she could get a glimpse of who might be following her. A black looming figure was on the roof directly behind her. She couldn't tell from the distance if it was male or female. "Damn it!" Sakura whispered. She didn't know who it was, but she knew they had seen her looking at him. Now, he or she was probably going to try to confront her. She could try to run, but what good would that do? She could scream, but this street was isolated and there didn't appear to be anyone nearby to hear her.

Why didn't she have Naruto walk her home? This would have been a lot easier to handle with him here. She picked her pen up, when all of a sudden, she noticed that the figure was no longer there. Taking a step forward, her shoulder hit a firm black-clad body. She stood straight up and tried to retrace her previous step. "Who are you?" She asked tentively, noticing the same black cloak as the figure on the roof.

"Someone you will probably recognize very soon." He answered smugly. Even though she had looked up to attempt to study his face, it was futile.His features werecovered by a black mask, with holes only for the eyes. The eyes! A realization dawned upon Sakura when she saw the spinning black against the vivid red.

"Sharingan." She stared into the red and black orbs. "That means you could only be…"

"Yes. That's right." The words 'keep going' hung in the air. He urged her to continue her thought process.

"Itachi." She stared up at him in awe. She could feel the fear creep into her stomach. Her mind was turning into knots. She had to shake this off, but then again, this was the man who killed his family. The man who massacred her teammate's parents. The man who caused her childhood object of affection to betray her, their team, and their country. How was she, a weak kunoichi, supposed to take on one of the most dangerous S-class criminals? At the same time, what would an S-class criminal want with her? It was an understatement to say she was slightly bewildered.

"What do you want?" Her vocal chords felt like someone had turned them into stone.

"Heh. Just for you to relax." Sakura took a step back in confusion. In turn, he took a step foreword. She was going to try to simply spin around and run, but she couldn't rip her eyes away from the red sharingan. He simply refused unlock their gaze. Boom, ba boom, ba boom. Her heart was pounding in her head. No. The stirring blood was slamming into the sides of her skull. The pain was becoming increasingly tense. Her vision was starting to blur everything together. Itachi and, she squinted to get a better look, his eyes were spinning even faster. The sharingan. That was what was causing her to black out. She had to fight this! "You can do this!" Inner Sakura yelled.

"You do realize the more that your mind and body resist, the faster you will go down." Itachi leaned against a pillar between the street and the sidewalk on one leg. He was just standing there, watching her suffer, _causing_ her to suffer.

"Fight what?" Sakura's legs were about to give way. "I don't feel a thing." She was lying through her teeth and he knew it.

Ten seconds later, her body could bear no more. Her legs gave way and the darkness enveloped her.

"Clever girl. Nice try, but I win." Stepping off the sidewalk, he chuckled to himself, then leaned down to pick up her body and disappeared into the night.

* * *

A/N: A bit chatty, but several things did need to be established. Ok, I do realize that some characters did seem a little OOC in the last chapter, but I'm working on it and all will be revealed in upcoming chapters, so have a little faith. It is 2:19 a.m. If there are any grammatical or spacing errors, I apologize. The words on the monitor are starting to become blurry.

On a different not, thank you so much to the people who reviewed. Ya'll are awesome! Please do continue! I especially appreciate constructive comments on how I can improve this story.

Come on, you know you want to…wink, wink, nudge, nudge


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